


107

by shchi



Series: champion [2]
Category: Terminator (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Formula One, Don't copy to another site, F/F, Gift Fic, One Shot, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shchi/pseuds/shchi
Summary: How to celebrate properly when you win more than a Grand Prix.
Relationships: Grace Harper/Dani Ramos
Series: champion [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947523
Comments: 8
Kudos: 21





	107

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fuffywumple](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuffywumple/gifts).



> i'm sorry it's late, but i hope you enjoy, i wasn't really sure what to write but i said i'd continue my f1 au and here we are! hope you had a great birthday!!

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 2018  
  
  
_'I never quite gave it up -- I mean, I don't regret starting, but I hardly have the time anymore.'_  
  
  
  
"Where did they get this from?" Grace places the printed magazine article on the desk as she looks to her race engineer.  
  
  
  
"But is it true?"  
  
  
  
"Sometimes? I don't why it bothers you, it's stressful -- risking your life every weekend."  
  
  
  
"Just be careful."  
  
  
  
"How? There's probably photographers lurking in the bushes outside my house," she chuckles slightly as she stands up to leave the conference room.  
  
  
  
"I meant in the race."  
  
  
  
"Oh, yeah, I will."  
  
  
  
She walks to the pit lane with Diego. Between the Chinese Grand Prix and now (April to November), he has his sister's near constant nattering about his teammate. It was at it's peak when they went out for drinks after Grace won in Hungary; she missed the debrief after the race to do that, and Diego gave some weak excuse for her. He often does that for her because he can't exactly say: _"She's gone for a smoke,"_ and everyone be completely ok with it. It's almost criminal for someone like a Formula One driver to smoke, but each to their own. She can do what she likes.  
  
  
  
  
In the garage, Grace laughs at the Mercedes mechanics startled faces as she revs the engine. She can't go anywhere, there's no tyres and she's been strapped into the cockpit for a while now, as if they expected her to run off somewhere if they didn't. Since the drivers pretty much lay down in the cars, she probably could fall asleep, if not for the noise of the other teams getting their cars ready. She puts the visor back up as she adjusts her gloves, fiddling with the buttons on the steering wheel. "How long do we have?" she asks to no answer. She wasn't the most loud person, not under a helmet anyway. She rolls her eyes before pressing the radio button to repeat the question, and her race engineer at the pit wall answers.  
  
  
  
There's twenty minutes until the race starts, and that seems to prompt the mechanics to put the tyres on, then wrap them in the tyre blankets to keep them warm, before they begin to move the cars from the pits to the grid. While it may not seem like it due to the mass amount of lights on the track, it's night time, well, it soon will be anyway. It's five o'clock, meaning it will be dark by the time the race ends. It's barely day light now, especially at this time of year. While night races are exciting for the fans at home, Grace isn't a fan of them. As they do a radio check, the mechanics on the grid remove the tyre blankets, and run off the grid. That's how the drivers know it's time to focus, and when the nerves build up. It's just 55 laps at full throttle for around 60% of the time, what's the worse that could happen?  
  
  
  
Don't answer that.  
  
  
  
The formation lap runs by smoothly, yet into turn nine of lap one, the safety car is deployed. "What happened?" Grace asks over the radio.  
  
  
  
"You didn't see when you went past again?"  
  
  
  
"No, I was going too fast."  
  
  
  
"Fair enough," her race engineer replies before telling her what happened. Not much happens for the rest of the race, they go for a one stop strategy for the tyres, and Grace reclaims first place from John Connor just in time. Everyone at Mercedes goes absolutely mental; it's not just a Grand Prix win, but Grace is also the World Champion, currently deafening the ears of her race engineer.  
  
  
  
Behind the #1 sign in the parc fermé, she jumps out the car and throws her helmet and HANS device to one of the mechanics as Dani runs up to her. She doesn't care anymore about trying to keep their new relationship private as she kisses her for the first time before the mechanics and Diego get to her to crush her in hugs or by throwing her up in the air, not quite the crowd surfing experience she wanted as it's not exactly comfortable. There's also too many emotions right now; she's just become the World Champion of Formula One, just kissed her girlfriend in front of millions of people, and she's wondering if it's more likely for her to die by being dropped on the ground by the Mercedes team than in an F1 car, and she still feels like the happiest person in the world, the best day of her life.  
  
  
  
  
She attempts to down the bottle of champagne because she's definitely not getting out of bed at all tomorrow, and she's forgotten that hangovers even exist right now. At the party, Dani seems to have more sense than Grace, but when she's tipsy and Grace is absolutely plastered, it doesn't take much for her to be persuaded to do shots of tequila with her.  
  
  


◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

  
  
A few days later, once the hangover has subsided, Grace sits in the set of Netflix's Drive to Survive to film for the last episode of the series. Part of her wishes they could have left the filming for a few more days, she still feels rough. Although, can she really complain when she's just made history as the only female World Champion of Formula One? Still, it's not as if the media are focused on that.  
  
  
  
"My name is Grace Harper, I race for Mercedes.. and I'm the current World Champion in Formula One." She can't stop the smile appearing as she speaks. Every driver in this sport, getting a seat in Formula One is just the beginning of their life long goal, it's really just begun by that point. A first year, a first point, a first podium, a first win. Despite being the World Champion, the public and the press appear not to care about that. They're far more interested in her and Dani, but that's ok.


End file.
